Kung Fu Panda 3

"Shrek the Third" was such a let down that it made me worried concerning "Kung Fu Panda 3". While this third installment was enjoyable and funny, it did not quite live up to its predecessors. I saw a lack of sincerity in many of the dramatic scenes in the first part of the movie. I also feel that more emphasis was placed on humor than heart. As mentioned though, the show was amusing and pleasing to watch.

There were some story motifs that were employed for both "Kung Fu Panda" and "Kung Fu Panda 2" that I hoped would be carried on into the third film. One recurring storytelling tool was included but not in the way that has become traditional in this franchise. The opening of the film usually includes a 2D stylized prologue and because it shows up at the inciting incident in "Kung Fu Panda 3", it feels more like a flashback. I favor the stylized prologue. I am glad however that the flashback expands the universe of the franchise. Another staple of the franchise is a character that tries to prevent destiny or a prophecy and just like a character from Greek tragedy, they end up fulfilling whatever they were hoping to avoid. This wasn't part of the story of the third film so that was unfortunate. The final motif I was expecting was a plotline referential to Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey". This was part of the plot of this film but it felt like a repeat of the second movie. In "Kung Fu Panda 2", Po wants to learn more about his identity. He also becomes "The Master of Two Worlds" by attaining inner peace. In this third movie, it is once again a quest concerning identity and a new power. He once again masters two worlds. Even though some parts of the second film are replicated in the plot of the third, steps were taken to make things feel somewhat fresh thankfully. Po learns even more about his origins and must master chi. There are some kids who might think that this is referencing the Force from "Star Wars" but chi is a real aspect of Chinese culture, not to mention many other ancient cultures. Lucas in the creation of Star Wars just created his own version of chi.

The biggest problem I found with "Kung Fu Panda 3" was the amount of humor and that it upstaged or wasn't balanced with heartfelt scenes. The preceding films had a good balance between the funny and the dramatic. If you compare the quantity of humor with the amount of drama in "Kung Fu Panda 3", there is potential for similar balance. The flaw was in the distribution. The first half of the film had a very large amount of humor and the second half was focused on drama. Shifu was humorous in the previous films but it was by way of his reaction to Po and other stimuli. This time, he generates some laughs in an uncharacteristic way. Also, some moments that could have been dramatic in the opening half were not genuinely crafted. For example, there are three crucial scenes that should have been more sincere. Po and Li's reunion firstly felt too funny. As a side note, their subsequent bonding in the Jade Palace was too goofy. Both my second and third examples (the scenes concerning Po's mother and Li confession) somewhat worked but were lacking again in sincerity because of the contrasting comedy that preceded them. In the previous movies, humor was occasionally used to relieve tension in dramatic scenes. In this third film, it felt like the first half of the story has a few dramatic scenes to give us a break from the multiple gags. That is not the purpose of drama in an animated film. Li and Ping's talk was the first moment that I felt genuine drama because it was effectively set up. We know what Ping's inner conflict is in this story but he puts it aside to help Po. This gave way to a dramatic climax so that is noteworthy I guess.

I may have spent most of this time talking about what went wrong with this movie but thankfully, it could have been worse. I laughed plenty of times. "Kung Fu Panda 3" also took a few moments to pay homage to classic Asian and kung fu movies such as the shots containing collages of images. One third of this movie was made in China and as a result, the Chinese version of the film is not dubbed but has lip synchronization just like the English version. The directors of this movie are no strangers to the franchise. Jennifer Yuh Nelson made the second film solo. The other director, Alessandro Carloni, worked on the previous films in the animation and story departments. I was surprised to see Guillermo Del Toro's name as an executive producer. It does give a reason as to why this film was a lot flashier than its predecessors. Concerning the cast, Jack Black's character is less dramatic it seems than in the preceding film but that could have been the fault of the direction or plotline. Unlike Ian McShane and Gary Oldman, who voiced the villains in the other movies, J. K. Simmons is an Oscar winning actor and quite recent to this creation of this movie. I like the differentiation with the villains in the franchise because Tai Lung had brawn, Lord Shen had brains and now Kai is supernatural. Despite this, I favor Tai Lung and Shen over Kai because they had better back-stories. Kai may have been a good guy once just like Tai Lung but what made Tai Lung awesome among many things was the powerful scene he had with Shifu during the climax of the first movie. Kai has cut all emotional ties with Oogway by the opening scene of the third film and as a result is less dynamic. Jackie Chan's performances as Monkey seem to get funnier as the series progresses and Wayne Knight was the perfect voice for his character. I like how Hans Zimmer has been involved in every musical score for these films. Finally, I want to give a shout out to my fellow university classmate, Q Bryce Randle, who was an additional assistant editor on "Kung Fu Panda 3".

I am amazed that Jeffrey Katzenberg hinted in 2010 at a six-movie "Kung Fu Panda" franchise. In my opinion, that sounds just as successful critically as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. I would argue that the time has come to cash in the chips as it were. DreamWorks Animation "jumped the shark" with "Shrek the Third" and I would hate to see the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise suffer the same fate. The second film hinted at a third installment but this third installment had great resolution so why go on? While I found some things wrong with "Kung Fu Panda 3" in terms of its balance of drama and comedy, I still liked the movie. I wanted this film to give me more hope for "How to Train Your Dragon 3" but my tiny worries unfortunately still remain.

3.5 Stars